Metro NZ

The best of our art writing is now appearing in Metro so congratulations to you, and to Anthony Byrt for his interrogation of the Gordon Walters show at Auckland Art Gallery (July-August issue). He takes the curators to task for not bringing Walt

Back when Natasha Ovely was living in Berlin, she labelled a coin jar on top of her fridge “Starving Artists Fund”. “Being a former art-school kid, everybody knows what it’s like: you put all your money into your materials and feel like you’re just t

Most people won’t achieve in a lifetime even a lick of what 37-year-old Sri Lankan-born inventor Suranga Nanayakkara has already accomplished. An over-achiever since childhood, this year alone he’s joined the bioengineering faculty at the University

01- Mug, $85, and dripper, $75, by Yuko Ikeda, and chopping board, $40, all from Tür Studio; Red Red Wine, artwork (acrylic and oil on canvas), by Sarah Williams, $2000, from Seed Gallery; round vase, $35, from Babelogue. 02- Coral, $60, round vas

One Sunday, a few weeks ago, New Zealand-born Samoan opera star Marlena Devoe had the kind of moment that dreams are made of. As understudy for the lead-soprano role in the Verdi opera Falstaff at the Royal Opera House in London, she never expect

Turn on the TV any night of the week and you’re almost certain to find yourself looking at a home improvement show of some description. New Zealand is clearly a nation of home enthusiasts — and that’s putting it mildly. Home improvement takes on many

It’s possible, says Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr, that New Zealand property prices may fall as they are in Australia. On the other hand, he says, they could keep rising. The significance of Orr’s words is not their meaning, or lack thereof, but

The service is no-nonsense and the register cash-only, but we will fight for a table at this small and bustling spot to chow down on their smoky char kway teow, one of the best in Auckland. Expect flat rice noodles with moreish pork lard, fried to cr

It gets harder each year, whittling down the long list of contenders for our annual Top 50 Cheap Eats list. Why? Because not only do new restaurants open that are aiming high, but many old favourites just keep getting better. To make the list, a rest

It was one of those late-winter Saturdays so clear and sharp you could have heard the sky squeak, but for the fact that “Poi E” was blasting from a sound-system on the edge of Aotea Square. It was pointed towards the Auckland Town Hall, where 20 or s

“We like to call it shaping reality,” says Mark Todd. “It is really satisfying to shape the market.” The co-founder of development company Ockham Residential is making a bold claim about his super-lot complex, Bernoulli Gardens, at Hobsonville Point.

Forget the constraints of minimalism, maximalism is here ‒ along with warm, dark colours, earthy neutrals, contemporary paint effects, statement ceilings and more. Here, the professionals from Resene give us a window onto the interior trends that wil

With guidance, homeownership can be within your reach. “We see people buy homes in the cities and regions who not so long ago thought it wasn’t possible,” says Justin Bree, Mobile Mortgage Manager at TSB. “The sooner potential first home buyers chat

First there was Rosie, Coco and Odette, and now there’s Augustus, Hugo, Madame George and Teddy. Auckland’s dining scene increasingly sounds like a royal wedding guest list, or the worst group of people to bump into on an OE. The latest proper noun

Huami’s more-is-more attitude is obvious from the moment you walk through the lipstick-red lacquered doors into the opulent SkyCity-owned Shanghai- inspired dining room. The restaurant has three private rooms, a temperature-controlled cellar, a duck

My mother had been to this wonderful party and was all dressed up. She fell out of the car door. I was sitting beside her and she was gone. This bracelet (main photo) took all the impact as she went rolling down the road. So it’s my lucky bracelet. I

Whisky. That fiery drop. A dram of liquid sunshine. Long associated with a kind of stylish but earthy masculinity, the single malt is firmly rooted in tradition - a tradition of quality still being appreciated by the modern whisky drinker. Contempor

The Going West Writers Festival lives right on the edge but somehow it never falls off. If I had a dollar for every time someone credible has told me the festival was about to die, I would have... well, I would have three whole dollars, in fact, but

Many will know 59 France St, Eden Terrace, as the home of the Kings Arms Tavern, which served inner-city drinkers for nearly 140 years, but before that, the area was known for its workshops and warehouses. Urban Collective and Paul Brown Architects h

Warning: state house alert. It speaks badly of this country’s humanity when news of a Housing New Zealand development sparks howls of protest. It happened in Epsom. Neighbouring residents gathered to express dismay at the prospect of a redevelopment

In the future histories of how Auckland became such an unequal and money-obsessed city, there will be chapters dedicated to the current urban-design regime — the planners, developers and real-estate agents, the mayors and councillors, the design cham

REVIEWS - NOELLE McCARTHY Opens September 6 How careful should we be about what we wish for? Whether or not you care a jot about fashion, the story of Alexander McQueen’s rise and fall is a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions — a taxi driver

Tom Scott’s been through the ringer since the halcyon days of his Auckland-based hip-hop collective, Home Brew. That group hit the top of the charts, but then Scott released a song with his next group, @Peace, that was timed for the 2014 election ca

We’re loving La Chinata paprika flakes over pizza, paella, kumara chips, mashed potato or in soups and grain dishes. With a new grinder bottle, these products are a fun addition to your pantry and allow you to add a flavour boost to your food DIY-sty